6 YEARS LATER

It still surprised me how busy the shop got sometimes. It got so busy that it wasn't unusual for Fred to rope me into helping at the shop when I had a day off. Not that I did it out of the goodness of my heart – no, I always made sure he repaid me somehow. Normally that somehow was Fred cooking for me because sure enough, he was Molly's son and her talent had passed on to him.

"Babe," Fred called out from the back of the shop. "Come here."

"Just a minute Fred," I called back, sending an apologetic smile to the customer in front of the counter.

Turning my attention away from boyfriend and back to the customers. Wrapping up their purchase, the customers left with a smile and the next one took their place. The line from the till was extremely long and even with every till open, the line was still moving slowly. The shop was always busiest just before the school term started. I had forgotten that Fred had called me and instead focused on serving the customers and by the time the line had died down a little, I remembered Fred.

I closed the till and turned to head into the back room, only to find him standing behind me. He crossed his arms, looking down at me with a small smirk.

"Did you forget about your boyfriend?" He raised an eyebrow when I blushed guiltily. "You're lucky I love you too much to get annoyed at you."

His words made some of the women in the shop aww and mutter to themselves. I blushed even more fiercely at the attention and took his hand in mine, dragging him into the back of the shop to avoid the spectators. Once we were in the back of the shop, I let go of his hand and looked around the room. The notebook that he used to work on new products was lying open on the desk. I made my way towards the desk, sitting down at the chair and looking down at the page.

Interesting.

Glancing over my shoulder at him, I asked, "Is this what you called me for?"

Fred nodded and made his way over to me. Putting his chin on top of my head, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders in a backwards hug. I smiled at the action, putting a hand on top of his arm.

"What do you think about it?" he asked, "I haven't quite worked out the details yet but it's an idea I've had for a while."

"It sounds interesting." I scanned the page again, "It's sort of like a walking day dream, right?"

He hummed in confirmation, "I'm not quite sure if the magic will work yet so I'm going to need to start working on it."

"Well I'll help you however I can and I'm sure that once George gets back from his honeymoon, he'll help as well."

I went to rise from the seat but Fred removed his arms, putting his hands on my shoulders instead. He pressed lightly against my shoulders, silently telling me to sit back down. I did, looking up at him curiously.

"There's something else I want you to take a look at," he explained before walking further into the room.

I sat waiting for him, swinging my legs as I waited. He returned a few minutes later with something held in his hand. Returning to my side, he put a small box on the table in front of me and gestured for me to open it. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly and leaned forward to open the box. Once it was open I looked down into it and stared at it for a while before eventually leaning back in the chair.

I looked up into Fred's face and admitted, "I don't get it."

His eyebrows rose in surprise, face going slack as he repeated, "You don't get it?"

I nodded. "I don't."

"What do you mean you don't get it?" he asked incredulously. "It's a ring, in a box. What's not to get?"

"Ok maybe I phrased it wrong," I admitted, rising to my feet and turning to face him. "I'm just a bit confused."

He got defensive, "Why?"

"Because it's so unexpected Fred," I said with a sigh.

"We've been dating for 6 years and you never expected it?" He raised an eyebrow and I shook my head. "Well you had better say yes because I've spent the last two years convincing your brother to agree to let me marry you and I didn't go through that for nothing." I remained silently, secretly enjoying seeing him freak out so much. "I especially didn't get punched in the face for you to say no."

"Oliver punched you?" My eyebrows rose in shock.

"The first time I brought it up to him, he punched me."

"That was why you had that black eye," I said suddenly enlightened. "I knew you didn't get hit by the boxing telescope. Merlin, he's got such a big older brother complex."

"You're telling me," he muttered under his breath. He cleared his throat and gestured back to the forgotten box. "So what's your answer then?"

"Do I need to give you an answer?" I raised an eyebrow, hiding a smile as he shifted from foot to foot. "Don't you already know my answer?"

"Well it'd still be nice to have it said aloud." He looked around the room, not making eye contact with me. "You know, just to avoid any confusion."

I smiled for him to see and rose onto my toes, pulling him down to meet me half way. Pressing a kiss to his lips, I pulled back slightly. He grinned affectionately down at me as I muttered against him, "Merlin, I love you Fred Weasley."

"Well it's a good thing I can tolerate you too," he replied, pulling away fully to give me a cheeky smile.